2 people shot, Army veteran killed at Mass. home

STONEHAM, Mass. — An Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and wanted to join the state police was killed early today in a double shooting at a home he was visiting.

Joseph Puopolo, 27, had been visiting a friend’s home in Stoneham, where his family lives, said his father, also named Joseph Puopolo.

The early morning shooting, which left another person hospitalized, “does not appear random,” Middlesex district attorney’s office spokeswoman MaryBeth Long said. No further details about the shooting in Stoneham, a suburb of about 21,000 residents just north of Boston, were released.

Puopolo said his son was “a good kid” who happened to be at the wrong place.

“Anybody that knew my son would tell you the same thing: He was a wonderful kid who would give you the shirt off his back,” Puopolo said.

He said his son had recently taken an exam to qualify for the Massachusetts state police.

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